The envoys are all glistening with chip fat

 I arrived at Joe’s to see the host, Ian, Katy, Sam, Martin and Adam H in the middle of a game of Cross Clues. I was offered a card to join in, but my mind hadn’t caught up with my body and was still a few minutes from getting here. There were a few mistakes, which I didn’t note, and a nice clue from Martin, using “Vet” to signify “cow/firefighter”. Amazingly, Katy started chatting before the game had concluded.

22 out of 25.

With all attendees present, Katy instantly suggested Lords of Vegas - insisting that the usually dice-phobic Adam was keen. Katy put the box on the table, "just in case anyone was interested" and Joe and Ian joined. No doubt Ian was keen to erase the memory of his last game where he scored only six points.

Martin, Sam and I played Cascadero. I was keen since I hadn’t played it since I’d learnt it, and needed to revisit it before I forgot everything. Apparently, I was up against the two most experienced players in the world, according to game count on Board Game Geek. An awesome achievement.

Early on in the game, Martin professed to being worried by Sam’s lengthy caravan of meeples. “This disquiets me,” he said. But he soon started to chain moves together, storming off into an impressive lead. “We're sitting at the same table but that's as far as it goes,” says Sam as Martin reached the top of his track and opened up a 29-13-12 lead.

I finished the last crisps in a bowl, reaching the point where Ian’s high class posh sea salt and peppercorn crisps mixed with some fake frazzles, and Martin made the observation that now adorns this blog post: “The envoys are all glistening with chip fat.” At first, Sam and I thought he was being poetic and commenting how rich and opulent the envoys would be if they were real but, no, that was the literal state of some of the meeples at this point. An amazing sentence, though, and one that could only be used in the context of board games. Or one of those orgies in Ancient Rome, perhaps.

It ended as a cake walk for Martin. “But you enjoyed yourself?” Katy asked Sam. “No,” he bluntly replied.

Martin 52

Andrew 20

Sam 21, but didn't finish his track 

Vegas was still barely halfway through, with various quotes drifting across the table such as “You can't lose more than you have,” Joe. “That really hurt,” Katy and “Fuck it, it’s Vegas,” Ian - at that point he was once again in a distant last.

Martin, Sam and I played Via Nebula. Before we began Sam told me and Katy that we’d played it before. “It's like being gaslit by Martin Wallace,” I said, as I couldn’t remember anything about it, if I had ever played it.

After the rules explanation, I went first and - not knowing what else to do - I made some resources available. Martin expressed bemusement about what he was actually aiming for. What “the shape of the game should be,” I think he said. He checked the rule-book mid game and found a rule that made the game less of a dickish co-op game and more conventional. Sam admitted to some disappointment.

Martin built buildings and I kept uncovering resources, both of which gained points. Our two very different strategies got us a joint first place.

Martin 22

Andrew 22 tied, and we shook hands as per the rule book's instructions

Sam 15

Then we played seaside, a game of pulling tiles from a bag and deciding which side of the tile you want to action. One side will usually let you have another turn, while putting more resources into the shared area in the middle. Or the other side will let you pick up some of what is available. At the end, we stacked up your tiles to see who’s the tallest!

Sam wins!

I was dimly aware of a lengthy discussion in LoV while Joe asked for donations to reroll a casino, but eventually the game ended with an impressive win for Katy. And an almost-as-impressive comeback for Ian.

Katy 54

Ian 23

Adam and Joe 20

Katy commented that Adam only rolled ones throughout the game. Adam the dice-skeptic didn't seem to want to comment.

And that was it for me. But the others played on and scored a perfect 36 out of 36 in So Clover.

And finally Martin, Joe and Sam played Klink.

Joe 93

Martin 82

Sam 64

Thanks and see you all soon.